Apple Intelligence Is Almost Here: Three Devices About to Turn Into Pumpkins

For an Apple fan, September is always a time of agonizing anticipation and inner struggle. In 2024, though, the tension has reached a peak. We used to wait for slightly thinner bezels or a new case color; now what is at stake is an entry ticket to the world of Apple Intelligence. Buying a base iPhone 15 today looks like a deliberate decision to stay in the technological past while the rest of the world moves to generative models in the pocket. The irony is that even last year's most expensive phone may be left behind within a month.

The core problem right now is that, for the first time in a long while, Apple is drawing a hard line between "smart" phones and "just phones." iOS updates used to arrive in roughly the same form for everyone, but with Apple Intelligence the rules have changed. To run local language models, Apple requires at least 8 GB of RAM and a powerful neural engine. The base iPhone 15 does not meet these criteria. You would be buying an expensive device that, within a month, will officially stop being current in the most important area of the decade: AI.

Beyond iPhones, the September "blacklist" includes the Apple Watch Series 9 and the aging AirPods Max. The watch is simple: Series 10 promises to be an anniversary update with a new design and, possibly, improved health-monitoring sensors tightly integrated with predictive analytics. Buying the current version a couple of weeks before the new one is announced is a questionable investment, even if you are offered a discount. The AirPods Max situation is even more comical: headphones that cost a fortune still ship with a Lightning port and an old chip that supports neither adaptive audio nor advanced neural-network audio processing.

So what remains on the recommendation list? Here everything is steady if your goal is AI and heavy workloads. MacBook Air and Pro models with M2 and M3 chips remain the gold standard. Apple built excess neural-compute headroom into the Apple Silicon architecture from the start. Even a base Air with an M2 will handle text, code and image generation through Apple Intelligence well. If you need a computer now, you can wait for the M4 in laptops, but the performance gain in everyday tasks will not be as dramatic as the move from Intel to the M series.

The iPad Pro with the M4 chip is a category of its own. It is a device from the future that Apple released ahead of schedule. Its power will cover any neural networks the company introduces over the next three to four years. If your work involves visual content, or you want the most powerful portable device for AI, this is a purchase you will not regret. The same goes for the iPad Air with the M2 chip, a sensible compromise between price and readiness for the new era of software.

It is important to understand the context: Apple is currently playing catch-up in AI. Google and Samsung are already heavily advertising their neural features, and Tim Cook cannot afford to release the iPhone 16 without a "wow effect." That means the marketing machine will shout from every rooftop about why older devices are relics. Psychologically, it will be unpleasant to realize that your phone, bought in late August, cannot remove unwanted objects from photos or transcribe calls in real time.

The secondary market is also in for a serious shake-up. Once Apple Intelligence becomes widely available, the resale value of models without AI support will start to fall rapidly. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will hold their value because they support the new features, but the regular "fifteenth" model risks becoming the fastest-depreciating smartphone in Apple's history. This is a classic paradigm shift, where software dictates strict hardware requirements. If you do not want to explain to a buyer on the resale market a year from now why your phone "can't handle Siri," it is better to keep your wallet closed.

The bottom line: September is a month of silence. Wait for the iPhone 16 presentation to get access to Apple Intelligence, or buy a MacBook with M-series chips if you needed AI power on the desktop yesterday.